New Mars Cameras

Assuming all goes well I will be taking pictures on Mars with these cameras in less than 1 year. Big "if" because launch and landing are very high risk.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover. All six MSSS-constructed pieces of hardware are visible in this image: The two Mastcams and their calibration target, the MAHLI and its calibration target, and the MARDI.

The remote sensing mast. The two MSSS-built Mastcams are located beneath the white box at the top of the mast. The width of the white box at the top is about 0.4 meter (16 inches). The Mastcams are also capable of acquiring 720p high definition video at a rate of about 7 frames per second, as well as stereo (3D) images of the terrain explored by the MSL rover.

Left: The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), which will acquire color close-up images of rocks and surface materials at the MSL landing site at a range of spatial scales with resolution as high as 13.9 micrometers per pixel. Right: The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mars Descent Imager (MARDI), which will acquire hundreds of natural color images at a rate of 4 frames per second during MSLís descent to the martian surface in August/September 2012.

Thanks for the interest guys. Yes it is big, about the size of a mini cooper.

Regarding my role, I operate the cameras http://www.msss.com/operations/ . The company I work for designed and built them. JPL designed and will operates the rover and manages the project for NASA. If all goes well it will launch after Thanksgiving and land on Mars Aug 2012.

Sample image from the descent camera that will take pictures (video) during landing:

Sample MAHLI image shows a 26.2 by 19.7 mm (1.03 by 0.78 inches) area on a rock imaged at a scale of 16.4 microns (0.0006 inch) per pixel. The rock is a dense zinc ore from Franklin, New Jersey; the red mineral is zincite (zinc oxide, ZnO4). The 1 mm scale bar equals about 0.04 inch. The picture was taken during MAHLI camera head post-vibration testing on 3 September 2008.

MAHLIís also has white light & UV LEDs. So can take pictures in the dark like:

People should learn endurance; they should learn to endure the discomforts of heat and cold, hunger and thirst; they should learn to be patient when receiving abuse and scorn; for it is the practice of endurance that quenches the fire of worldly passions which is burning up their bodies.
--Buddha

Below is a photo we took on the way to Mars mid April with the Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI). It is dark in the cruise vehicle and aeroshell, so we turned on the white LEDs. We did not want to move the focus mechanism prior to landing, so it is out of focus, but you can make out the LED reflection and parts of the rover.

People should learn endurance; they should learn to endure the discomforts of heat and cold, hunger and thirst; they should learn to be patient when receiving abuse and scorn; for it is the practice of endurance that quenches the fire of worldly passions which is burning up their bodies.
--Buddha